


Song Birds

by hold_hands_with_sociopaths, ryuugalockheart



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 09:15:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3890833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hold_hands_with_sociopaths/pseuds/hold_hands_with_sociopaths, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryuugalockheart/pseuds/ryuugalockheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Al: Haaaaaa, I am an idiot and i apologize, I accidentally deleted the whole work trying to edit. So let's do this again, shall we?<br/>--<br/>Sollux and Eridan meet through the mutual love of music. They both joined choir to get away from the stressful environments of their home lives. Eridan having to hide his rainbowness from his father, and Sollux struggling to keep up his grades. But when one day, when Sollux’s grades go from bad to worse, can Eridan help him catch up? Will Sollux let him in for the first time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sollux: Do the School Thing

Sollux slowly peeled his eyes open, thinkpan pounding angrily at him in protest. He stared at his ceiling a moment, trying to separate his dream from his reality. He didn’t know which one was worse. He rubbed at his eyes and winced as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Jesus fucking Christ, he could hardly see straight from the pounding in his thinkpan. He needed to take his meds. Sollux swallowed thickly and only then registered his alarm blaring rudely at him from his nightstand.

Scowling, Sollux reached over and slid his finger across the screen to shut it off. He stretched his arms up to pop his back and flinched as it made blood rush to his thinkpan. Fuck, ow. He held pressed his palm to his temple and thought about calling in sick. But he really didn’t like doing that. It made him feel whiny and needy. He only did so when he literally could not move. It happened more often than he would like to think. Sollux slowly swung his legs over the side of his bed and looked around his respiteblock.

It was neat and orderly, with everything having a place it belonged and being in it. Sollux sat on his twin sized day bed, wrapped up in sheets colored electric blue. His pillow was as red as Karkat’s blood and his quilt was yellow. Most of the things in his respiteblock were schemed like that of a five year old human child. He just liked the three colors together.

He touched his bare feet down onto a fluffy, crimson rug. It was only large enough to just barely cover the floor beside his bed. Beyond that were oak wood floors. His walls were light blue. But with the copious amount of band, movie, and video game posters, one would hardly be able to tell. Directly opposite him was the door to his respiteblock. Hanging on the back of it was a red robe he hardly ever used. Off to the left of the door, from Sollux’s standpoint, was his yellow-painted desk with neatly organized papers and various art and writing supplies, an old husktop in the center of it. On the desk, leaning against the wall was a cork board, filled with pictures of he and his choirmates. They were like his other family.

Sollux pushed himself to his feet and sighed, running a hand through his hair and accidentally shocking his hand when he touched his horns. Jesus, he needed to take his meds or he would be a walking short circuit. He didn’t bother with the robe. He didn’t even know why he had it. He was about eighty percent sure Kanaya had gifted it to him one Perigree. Or, Christmas he guessed. 

Sollux figured he might as well shower since he had miraculously decided to get up on the first alarm.He went to grab clothes to change into afterward when his phone went off. What the hell, who the fuck was texting- wow, why did he even ask?

cuttlefishCuller[CC] began pestering twinArmageddons[TA]

CC: )(ey Sol!  
TA: hey ff  
CC: Are you going to be at sc)(ool today?  
CC: Ms. W)(ite is giving us partners today! I’m so -EXCIT-ED! )8D  
CC: Are you excited, Sol~?  
TA: iill let you know when iit2 not 6:30 iin the morniing  
CC: Glub glub! )(ee )(ee )8D

Sollux chuckled softly and pushed his hair out of his face. Feferi was really so ridiculously happy all the time. He had never met someone as energetic as she. It was refreshing. He scratched his bare abdomen, grabbing a fresh pair of boxers, a shirt, and skinny jeans. 

TA: brb ablution trap  
CC: Okay! Don’t fall!  
TA: no promii2e2  


twinArmageddons[TA] is now an idle chum!

Sollux coughed and walked down the hall into the ablutionblock, shutting and locking the door. He turned the hot water on and dropped his clothes on the load gaper's lid. Steam billowed over the curtain rod and tumbled across the ceiling, effectively fogging up the mirror he was staring into. He sighed and tugged the mirror, it swinging open to reveal the medicine cabinet. He grabbed his several pill bottles of medication and began popping them all open, pouring one tablet for OCD, two for his Bipolar Disorder, and one for anxiety. Four. He sighed and tossed them back, swallowing them dry. He grabbed a cup they kept in the cabinet and filled it up, knowing he needed to drink a full glass or he might throw up.

He capped the pills and put them back on his shelf, closing the steamy mirror door. Sol dropped his boxers and kicked them to the side, stepping into the scalding water. He hissed lightly but his skin quickly became used to it and he turned to grab the shampoo. He squeezed some of the honey and vanilla scented liquid into his palm. He then lathered it into his hair. He would have been jamming to music of some sort, but it might wake his father or Mituna. He would feel awful if he woke one of them. So cleansing in silence was the best option.

He stood there for a moment. He wasn’t a Sea Dweller, but he did like the feel of the water running over his skin. He sighed and lifted his thinkpan, slicking his hair out of his face. Sol rinsed his hair and grabbed his honey-scented body wash. They literally had honey everything. Mituna claimed once that it helped calm him. So they had honey scented incense burning literally always. Not that he minded the irony, he rather liked the scent as well.

Sollux then lathered - oh look, more honey scented shit - conditioner into his hair and shivered as he brushed his horns. He thought about having an early morning jerk off session, but thought better of it. He didn’t feel like letting the water grow cold against his back again. He scrubbed down his body until the scent of honey was almost suffocating him. He rinsed off and turned off the water. 

He was relatively tired, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He was always tired, to be honest. Any kind of sleep he got was littered with the faces and whispers of those near death. Sollux hummed a song to himself, feeling a bit more awake now. He toweled off his body once he’d grabbed a fluffy blue one from the rack. The blue one was his, the yellow one Mituna’s, and the red one their father’s. Everything in their house was more or less color coded. And they all had a weird thing with primary colors.

He tied his towel around his waist and went to grab hair product that also - guess what - smelled like honey. He scratched it into his scalp and sighed softly. It always managed to stick up in stupid places and make it look like he’d just rolled out of bed. Whatever. For now, he needed his morning caffeine. 

Quickly dressing himself, Sollux glanced in the full-length mirror against the back of the door. He had on mis-matched red and blue socks on with gray skinny jeans with rips in the thighs. He had on a black tee shirt with his family symbol on it. Sollux squinted slightly, not having his glasses on. He left the ablutionblock and scrunched up his nose.

His father was brewing coffee.

Gross.

He walked into the nutritionblock and glanced around. His father was nowhere to be seen but he figured he had to be wandering around here somewhere. He ignored the stench of coffee and went into the thermal hull to grab himself a Monster. He didn’t drink coffee like normal teenagers. He drank Monster. Sollux wondered vaguely which one was worse.

He’d have to research that later. Maybe rub it in his father’s face.

“Sollux.”

Sol nearly hit his head on the roof of the thermal hull when his name was suddenly called. He stood upright and sighed in relief. Thank god. Psiionic remembered who he was.

He nodded to the older man and he walked over to the coffee machine. Sollux frowned.

“Will you be okay?” He asked.

Psiionic nodded to him without actually nodding to him. “Yes. I’ll care for Mituna today. Have a good day at school.”

Sollux frowned. He hated how lifeless Psiionic’s words were. They physically hurt him. He nodded nonetheless and returned to his respiteblock, rolling his eyes when he saw he had been spammed by Feferi while he was in the ablution trap. Sollux read the messages rather quickly.

CC: Come on, you )(ave to be -EXCIT-ED!  
CC: I wonder w)(o my partner will be )8?  
CC: I bet you’ll get a GR-EAT partner!

Sollux didn’t bother replying to her rambles. He was honestly too tired for this. Besides, he needed to get to school. He didn’t have time to reply. He tugged on one black converse and one white converse. You’d think his fashion sense would fuck with his OCD but it didn’t for some reason. That was about the only thing that didn’t actually.

Sollux coughed into his elbow and snatched up his bag, leaving his respiteblock once he had shrugged on his hoodie. The torso was yellow, while one sleeve was red and one blue, the cuffs the opposite color. 

Sollux walked through the living livingblock and then to the foyer. He lived in a communal hivestem and his was upstairs. Karkat was the one who lived in the hive beneath his, and they frequently walked to school together if Karkat’s brother didn’t give him a ride.

Today appeared to be one of those days, as Kankri’s car was missing from the driveway the two hives shared. Sollux was indeed old enough to drive, but he hadn’t deemed himself mentally stable enough to drive. 

So he grabbed his skateboard, which was just inside the door. He pushed his hair out of his face and pocketed his hands as he began rolling down the street toward school. He pushed headphones into his ears and nodded his head slightly to the beat of Hotel California by the Eagles. He mouthed the lyrics, it being one of his favorite older songs.

Sollux took about fifteen minutes to get to school, just in time for the bell to ring for class. He jogged down the hallway to his locker and stored his skateboard in it.

“Sol!”

He turned and saw Karkat standing there.

“There you are you bulgemunch, we waited for your sorry ass this morning.”

“Morning to you too, asshole. If you were waiting, then you should have texted me, fuckass.”

Sollux and Karkat in unison, smacked their hands together then pulled back and snapped. They were moirails and had been since they were in middle school. He cared for Karkat like the asshole was his own blood and he didn’t know what he would do without that idiot.

“I fucking did.” Karkat scowled, crinkling his eyes.

Sollux blinked and pulled out his phone. Oh so he did. He shrugged.

“Tell Kankri I said thanks for the ride anyway.” He said and Karkat nodded. 

“What do you have first period?” He asked curiously. 

Sollux paused to think a moment. “Biology.” he said. “I think.”

It was kind of difficult to keep track of a schedule you hardly used. He skipped probably two days out of five a week due to some kind of health complication or some shit. He pushed his glasses up and ran a hand through his hair. He dug into his shoulder bag and fished his Monster out. Karkat rolled his eyes.

“Those fucking things will put you in the goddamn medicinal block one of these days.”

“I’ll get all my favorite nurses, Karkat, why would that upset me?”

Karkat merely snorted and Sollux smirked as they began walking to first period.

\------------------

Sollux walked into his seventh period, thinkpan pounding. He felt relief wash over him when he realized this would be his last class. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The troll pushed up his bi-colored spectacles and tossed his backpack against the wall with the other students’. The entire class was in uproar of Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Piano courtesy of John and Jane. 

Sollux grinned and joined in the song, everybody grinning and looking at him. It was no secret that Sollux was among one of the most talented singers in their entire music department. He was a tenor and several people compared him to an angel singing. To which he would reply that he was more like a siren luring it’s prey to their death.

So he earned the rather fitting name, the Siren. He liked it, though he didn’t think his singing was good enough to deserve an alias for it. But whatever.

Sollux wasn’t complaining.

The bell rang and the crowd chanting My Chemical Romance dissipated. He pushed up his glasses and watched as Ms. White sauntered in. 

She had on a fitting white dress with a gray cardigan. Her white-blonde curls were piled high on top of her head in a ponytail. Her skin was so pale, she almost reminded Sollux of a porcelain doll. She looked like a blonde Jessica Rabbit. So naturally, half the choir wolf whistled at her when she walked in.

“Not appropriate.” She said with a sigh, used to this treatment. 

Sollux, along with the rest of the class, took their seats and waited for Ms. White to begin the day. Which didn’t take long. Sollux glanced at the soprano section. Feferi was grinning broadly at him, practically bouncing in excitement. 

“Now, class, as you know, today you will be receiving your partners for this quarter’s project. As a reminder, the partner you are given will be your partner for the rest of the year.” Ms. White began. “You cannot switch partners, so no whining about it. Now, for the pairs. . .”

To be perfectly honest, Sollux completely tuned out after that. He had no interest in everybody else’s partners. A few seconds later, however, he tuned in as his name was called. He blinked.

“Sollux Captor and Eridan Ampora.”

Who the fuck was Eridan Ampora?

Sollux heard a throat clear behind him from the bass section. he turned and blinked. Oh. Wow. What a loser. He almost audibly groaned. This was going to be a long year.


	2. Eridan: Realize Everything is a Lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Al: Thank you for reading~

When Eridan heard his name being called, he didn’t realize what was even going on in that moment.

He had been busy with his own thoughts, of course. Like how was he possibly going to get his new clothes home from his shopping trip tomorrow? Whatever, he would figure something out. It wasn’t impossible to get clothing into his room and hidden away, after all. 

But when Eridan heard his name, he looked up and immediately locked eyes with some honey blood starin’ his way. Eridan blinked, and curled his lip slightly. What, was this guy the one he was supposed to partner with or whatever? He looked pretty pissy if you asked Eridan.

But who was he to cause quarrels, except Eridan Ampora. Even if Cronus beat into his head again and again with his insistent, ‘humans-are-wonderful-and-this-isn’t-alternia-anymore’ speeches. Personally Eridan didn’t see what was so appealing, and he missed the oceans of his home planet. However of course fucking meteors had to come in the direction of their lovely home planet anble them evacuate to Earth. He missed the blood system and the oceans and how he could be as military based as he want and still be relevant. 

But on Earth it was so different and new, he hated it. He couldn’t stay underwater where his gills didn’t dry out regularly and he was forced to use some bullshit special cream, no. He had to do that these days. He swore he had developed some kinda asthma or somethin’. 

But he was rambling, and this kid was still staring at him like some kinda lunatic. When the class shifted and began moving around to join their partners, Eridan hesitated. God, if this guy sounded bad he was gonna throw a tantrum or something. 

Eridan finally stood and approached the troll, pushing up his glasses on his fluttering fins, which gently puffed out in apprehension. They did that sometimes. But Eridan didn’t want him to realize that he was hesitant about this. What if this guy was total glubbin’ shit at singing? He’d have to tear out his squawk blister. 

Eridan pulled down his shirt a little, and straightened his back like his Ancestor had taught him about. Well, his human based ‘father’, however it was still the Orphaner Dualscar. Eridan crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the yellow blood, who had yet to spill a word. 

“... Well, are you that intimidated?” Eridan asked, and curled his lip in a smirk, barely noticing his own wavy, stuttering accent that caused him to trip over his ‘w’s and ‘v’s.

“Intimidated? Try unimpressed.” the kid said, and Eridan just knew he would be troublesome. 

Eridan rolled his eyes and straightened his arms over his chest. 

“Unimpressed? Well, once you hear me. If you drag me down, I won’t be hesitatin’ to hit you right in your most likely shitty sounding ignorance shaft.” he spat, and glanced over to the side to look at the other pairings that had come together.

"I think I'm the one who needs to worry about being dragged down." the yellow blood spat to Eridan, and he huffed indignantly. 

“Whatever. You haven’t heard me sing.” he said, and smirked. Truth be told, he didn’t really know if he himself was good or not. He only assumed in his vanity that he had a good voice, but his accent probably did get in the way. He had only joined choir to get away from his home and not have to deal with his ‘father’ and ‘brother.’ It was something to waste time and keep him busy, to try not and think about the… Well, his life.

Eridan blinked his thoughts away and sat beside the boy, crossing his legs and raising an eyebrow. 

“Well, what song are we doin’?” he questioned, tilting his head in the direction of his choir mate. 

"How the hell should I know? We just got the assignment." he said, and Eridan really needed to learn his name. He had heard it, but it wasn’t his problem to remember just then. Only to listen for his own.

“Well maybe you oughta figure it out.” Eridan returned, quirking his lip. Jeez, this troll was being a serious bone bulge. He knew he would be feeling a series of emotions for this guy. “What is even your name?” he asked, and looked at him pointedly. 

"Sollux Captor. And I'm ninety percent sure we get to pick our own." Sollux replied, and Eridan huffed. It would be so much easier to just be assigned a song rather than having to quarrel over this kinda thing. Eridan honestly hated the songs they were assigned, they didn’t have enough flourish, but whatever. It was so much easier.

Eridan sighed again and looked at Sollux. “Well, any ideas then? I’m not doin’ one a those bullshit, inspirational human songs they make us choke out.” he muttered, and pushed up his glasses. He squinted and looked like an idiot without them.

"I think humans have a decent choice in music. I like a couple of their bands. Don't be a douche. What genres do you like?" Sollux questioned, and Eridan found himself a little disgusted at how he reacted towards humans. Though truth be told, human bands did kinda beat out troll versions. Like, Troll Katy Perry was kind of terrible. But on Earth, she was alright. But no one needed to know that. 

“I don’t know. I guess… Classical? Alternative?” he said, and shrugged his shoulders limply. He didn’t really listen to a lot of music previously. Although he knew he did enjoy the sweet drawl of a cello, and the angry, rushed vocals of some alternative artists. 

"Alternative? Ever heard of Starset?" Sollux asked, and Eridan detected a hint of excitement in his tone. He paused, then shook his head hesitantly.

“I don’t believe so. Are they good?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow up on his forehead and pulling his lip up a bit in curiosity. Starset sounded… Nice. Believe it or not, he was quite interested in the stars from which they came. He missed them sometimes. But Earth was a star among itself, wasn’t it? Stuck in the universe, a divot as a planet. 

"Yeah. They're kind of alternative. Good beats." Sollux said distractedly, and Eridan shrugged. 

“Well… Perhaps I can give them a try.” he murmured, and smiled a little, lips plush like that of a feminine troll. He… tended to embrace that, it seemed. The earrings decorating his fins weren’t just for royalty status. The gender rules one was forced to be in in order to be happy on Earth were a bit frustrating. “What song do you have in mind?” Eridan asked.

"Uhh. My Demons is good. I think Dark On Me is one of their best songs." Sollux said, pausing a moment to think and push up his rather stupid looking glasses, but Eridan didn’t care. They matched his clothing taste, it seemed. Eridan nodded in understand.

“Dark On Me? How does it sound?” he questioned, and frowned. That sounded a little weird. He kinda wanted to do a more quadrant oriented base song. Or, pardon him, a ‘love ballad.’

"It's hm. Kind of like a love song? I don't know. Its quiet, but eh. Hard to explain. That's like asking me how grub sauce tastes." Sollux said, and shrugged as he said that last statement, to which Eridan smirked a little. 

“I see. I suppose I’ll have to listen to it then. Is it even a good song for two people to be singin’?” he asked, and uncrossed his legs to lean forward on his knees, tugging his scarf up above his gills slightly as he felt the chilled air reach them.

"Yeah. It could easily be made into a duet." Sollux said, and Eridan watched momentarily as his doubled overbite tugged on his lower lip. Eridan cleared his throat, gills shifting and fluttering under his scarf, and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll have to listen to it. When is this glubbin’ duet supposed to be presented?” he inquired, leaning on his hand, tilting his head slightly to peer over at Sollux.

"I think its supposed to be our final for the semester." Sollux said, and allowed a frown to cross his expression. Eridan smirked and sighed heavily, totally feelin’ that. 

“Seriously? Better not fuck up.” he told Sollux, and smiled a little in warning. He would not lose his final grade because this lowblood wouldn’t be able to spit a high note. He didn’t have time to waste on dealing with Sollux and his shitty singing. 

"Don't diss my fucking singing before you hear it, asshole." Sollux spat, back to his sharp, biting tone that, unsurprisingly, lost some of it’s bite due to his lisp that made the insult ‘asshole’ kinda adorable. But he didn’t need to know that. Eridan rolled his eyes, and gently smoothed his hair back.

“I can diss it all I want, chumbucket. Until you prove to me you’re good, I will assume the worst.” he said in return, his resolve showing how annoyed he was by Sollux.

"Wow, asshole. I will then assume your singing sounds like a dying whale.” Sollux said, and Eridan almost laughed. Wow, he kept saying that. Don’t get him wrong, he had his own speech problems. But he tried not to encourage them. 

“A dying whale? That’s rather low, with me being a seadweller. I don’t hear any land-dweller slurs being spit.” he said, then rolled his eyes and looked away, leaning up to cross his arms. Of course, who was he to talk? Previously on Alternia he had been the epitome of such things. But there was fun in being hypocritical.

"I don't give a fuck. Don't insult my singing when you have no idea what I sound like you self-righteous prick." Sollux said, and stiffened slightly. Eridan sighed slightly and smirked a little.

“Insult? I’m only expressin’ my concern of you sounding like a dyin’ honkbird.” he hummed, and almost laughed. This was almost fun, if only Sollux wasn’t lowkey a huge asshole. He could practically taste misanthropy. 

"You know what, fish dick, you want me to sing? Fine. Name a song."” Sollux said, squaring his thin shoulders, and Eridan smiled as he saw the aggression of this troll show off. 

“Fish dick, that’s fun. Alright… How about a song from a nice human classic. I Wanna Hold Your Hand by The Beatles?” he suggested. When he came to Earth, he studied a number of human bands. The Beatles were generally good, no matter if the creatures that made up the band were slightly disgusting.

“Fine.” Sollux said, and cleared his throat, which Eridan found rather tacky if he did say so himself. However when Sollux released the first soft note, obviously attempting to remain rather quiet in the room to avoid attention, Eridan was in shock. The melodies that melted from his mouth and dripped rich from his teeth like honey. It melted from his bloodstream and mixed with the notes being released from these strong vibrations and Eridan realized, Sollux had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.

Eridan listened to him sing, sitting in this plastic blue chair, and had another revelation. Perhaps Eridan himself was the shitty singer. But of course, he had always gotten good grades? Singing would perhaps be nothing if he could handle what he did on his previous home planet. He didn’t know how he would handle dragging such a graceful, rich voice down in this duet and he hadn’t a clue how Sollux’s voice would mold into an alternative based song. But god glubbin’ dammit, if he wasn’t excited now. Each lyrical tune that escaped Sollux’s assessed squawk blister was Prospit that bled from his vein and all Eridan could even think was honey honey honey, as Sollux was golden.

Eridan had enjoyed this song, he had. He had discovered that the original version was a happy tune, but it seemed Sollux slowed the song in tone with his voice significantly and it was immaculate and beautiful and Eridan realized that he couldn’t even compare. 

Sollux could sing, beautifully.

And Eridan hated it.


	3. Sollux: Don't Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Al: Okay, so backstory in this chapter. And also I am a huge idiot. Nuff said. However, this chapter is absurdly long.

Sollux ended the song and merely smirked at the floored expression on Ampora’s face. It was fantastic, and he loved it. However, he was honestly curious as to what the Sea Dweller’s voice sounded like. Sollux ran a hand through his hair and settled into his seat again from his upright posture.

“So, do I sound like a dying honkbird?” He cooed, sickly sweet.

Eridan blinked and hesitated, and his fins lowered slightly. “... No.” he muttered stubbornly.

Sollux smirked in satisfaction. That’s what he thought. He twisted in his chair to face forward again. He tugged his phone out in satisfaction and opened Pesterchum. He turned back to Eridan. Trolls back on Alternia had used Trollian all the time. However, the only version he could find on Earth was Pesterchum. It was the same thing, just dumbed down for humans.

“What’s your chumhandle?” Sollux inquired.

Eridan looked up, surprised. “... caligulasAquarium.” he said.

Sollux twisted back to face forward, entering the handle and adding it to his list of “chums.” Sollux shot a quick text message to Eridan, so he’d know his own handle, and glanced up as the bell to leave school sounded. Ugh, thank god. He stood and threw his backpack over his shoulder.

Not wanting to be rude, he nodded to Eridan before glancing at Feferi. She’d gotten paired with Jade for the assignment. They would be a pretty duet, he decided, and pushed his glasses up. Feferi was chatting away with Jade, both of them seeming to have missed the bell. He rolled his eyes and turned to leave the choir room.

Sollux found himself walking probably faster than what was necessary, anxiety for his family kicking in. He hoped that neither of them had gone into an anxiety attack or something.

He walked faster.

______________

Sollux was thankful that nothing outrageous had happened while he was gone.

His father had slept all day unsurprisingly. The first thing Sollux did when he got home was head to the ablutionblock. With his backpack still on his back, he made his way toward the medicine cabinet to check his family’s daily dosages. Both Mituna and Psiioniic had those little pill containers with one slot for each day of the week. He looked into them and frowned deeply. 

Monday was full. For Psiioniic, anyway. He’d have to let Mituna have one of his cookies.

He turned and left the room, calling for the Psiioniic. 

Getting no answer, Sollux threw the door to his “father’s” block open, scowling.

“Psiioniic, you good-for-nothing, take your damn meds!”

Okay, so maybe he should have been a bit more tactful with a psiionic with dementia.

Sollux felt his body slam against the wall in the hallway. He yelped in pain as he felt the crackle of electricity engulf his torso. He scowled as an unintelligible yell reached his ears.

It took a moment for Sollux to process what he’d said, but when he did, he felt his heart sink into his stomach.

“Who the fuck are you!?”

Sollux frowned. “S-Sollux. . . I’m your son.” He choked out, the red and blue energy slowly crawling higher to tighten around his neck like the tendrils of an earth octopus. Fear crawled into Sollux’s heart, making it beat unnaturally quick. His breathing escalated in horror at the lack of recognition in Psiioniic’s expression as he emerged from the dark confines of his respiteblock.

The look on Psiioniic’s face was one of complete, and total, bloodthirst.

Not that Sollux could blame the guy. With his life as the Helmsman of the Condesce’s airship, Psiioniic had been mentally broken before they’d even met.

How they met.

That thought took Sollux a minute to recall, it having been so long ago. Almost four sweeps now. He remembered seeing the stars falling out of the sky from the rooftop of his hive when he was four. He remembered the burning asteroids that were larger than entire hivestems hurtling toward Alternia.

He remembered thinking how beautiful it was.

Soon after, Sollux remembered being scooped up by one of the older trolls in his neighborhood. Then he remembered running. So much running. His little four-sweep-old legs burning and aching. He couldn’t stop though. He would die. The hand that was pulling him was Aradia. She had lived in the hive next to his after a smaller meteor shower had destroyed her hive. Soon they arrived at an airship. It was huge, and Sollux knew it was an Imperial Ship. Not just an airship.

The Condesce’s.

The survivors of his planet had all been gathered onto her enormous airship. Then he heard the Condesce say, “Classify.”

It took Sollux a full thirty seconds to understand that she had meant to group themselves by blood caste. 

So he looked around in confusion. He couldn’t find his caste. Panic swept over him.

Was he the only one left?

His hand was suddenly grabbed and a spark shocked his finger. Sollux had snapped over to look at the slightly older troll. He would come to know this troll as his soon-to-be "brother", Mituna.

He led Sollux through the crowd toward a cluster of other honey-bloods standing in a group. There were roughly eighty.

The Condesce then ordered her subjects to group into their symbols.

So they were all grouped into “families” of however many trolls shared symbols. Sollux’s family had two.

It was Grand Highblood that then stood and explained what was happening.

Meteors were coming for them, he said. For Alternia. There would soon be nothing left of their planet.

Naturally, this caused mass panic. But everyone soon calmed at his next announcement.

They would be forced to evacuate to Earth to live amongst pink monkeys.

And so the airship was lifted into the air and they were off, just in time to watch their entire civilization get destroyed. They spent about a sweep on the airship, living among each other and bonding with their new families.

Sollux learned that Mituna was only a sweep older than him, at five. Sollux and Mituna actually had a lot of the same hobbies. They both had a love for cute things and sweets. They were both really good at chess. Both of them the same species of lusus. And they both had psionics.

However, he learned that Mituna’s psionics had been damaged beyond repair. The current Helmsman was getting old. He was breaking down and The Condesce had been searching for his replacement. So she rounded up all of the known psionic troll children and put them through gruesome mental trials. 

Mituna had failed his tests. And lost his psionics forever after a particular trial had caused his psionics to literally short-circuit in his brain, diagnosing him with Multiple Sclerosis and Schizophrenia to add to the extreme ADHD he had been hatched with.

Mituna wasn’t the one who told him this. It was one of Mituna’s friends. Latula Pyrope.

Though it became apparent to Sollux later that they were more than simply friends. Through Latula, Sollux met Terezi, Latula’s younger ‘sister.’ The two hit it off and spent a lot of their time together, becoming fast friends. Slowly, Sollux and Mituna drifted apart to spend time with their respective Pyropes. Though Terezi was never accepted into his quadrants.

Not that either one of them wanted her to be. They were both perfectly fine with their platonic friendship.

The sweep on the airship passed quickly and soon, the Trolls of Alternia had landed in Washington DC, the capital of the country.

Before the Captor brothers left the airship, the Condesce pulled them aside and led them to the Helmsman that had piloted the ship for a sweep straight.

Sollux had never seen another troll so willing to die. It was the saddest thing he had ever seen. However, the Condesce explained that he would be their guardian. After that brief introduction, they had been sent out into the new world.

But not before the Condesce gave Psii a peck on the cheek that made Sollux’s stomach turn.

The Troll families each shared a hive wherever they decided to settle down. For the Captors, it had been in upstate New York. Humans were strange creatures. Pink skin, white eyes. Only one blood color. But they all had different skin colors. It was so strange. But Trolls were accepted into society and soon merged with their culture.

Of course, the younger trolls, such as Sollux and Mituna had to go to the human versions of schoolhives, each different based on intelligence. Sollux had been placed a grade above where he would normally be at his age, sending him, arms flailing, into middle school.

Bullying was a huge problem and he found himself loathing it more and more. Until a young troll by the name of Karkat Vantas walked into his life. He’d stood up for him one day and the two had been inseparable moirails since. Apparently even their guardians had been moirails.

As for Sollux’s home life, It had been tough caring for Psiioniic. He had helped Mituna whenever he could, but it was still incredibly difficult. Psiioniic had left the Condesce’s airship with schizophrenia, extreme social anxiety, crippling depression, and dementia. So he only remembered them about two-thirds of the time. The other third was spent fending off brutal attacks from their ‘father.’ 

Nonetheless, the two had grown incredibly close to the older troll.

Which made the memory loss harder and harder to cope with. Mituna’s health had also deteriorated to the point where he could hardly get out of bed. So the responsibility of caring for his family had been on Sollux's shoulders since he was about seven and a freshman in high school.

It was mentally exhausting.

Which led to now.

Sollux stared down at his father. The man he had waited on hand and foot. The man he had cried over on particularly bad nights. The man he had to at one point hide the knives from. 

The man who didn’t remember him. The man who saw him as a threat. The man who was trying to kill him.

Sollux raised his hands to reach for Psiioniic, eyes pleading. Please. Please, they said. Sollux wanted him back. He wanted the Psiioniic he had never met. The father he had never had. He wanted him back. He didn’t want to fear for his life anymore at his own hive.

Trembling hands were knocked away violently as an angry roar sounded through the house. A fist made contact with his stomach. Sollux was thrown from the wall to the floor. He felt his back pop and his head slammed into linoleum. Terrified and probably concussed, Sollux tried to roll away, but a hand grabbed his ankle and pulled him back. Another blow rained down on his face, sending his glasses skidding across the nutritionblock floor.

Sollux cried out and tasted the bitter taste of his own blood. The punches kept coming, but after that initial punch to his jaw, Sollux’s torso took the rest. He could taste salty tears in his mouth, and Sollux wondered whose tears they were.

“I WON’T GO BACK! NEVER!” Psiioniic was screaming, though it sounded muffled in his ears. As if he was under water. His head felt heavy and light at the same time and nausea barreled over him. He could barely see.

“Psii. . .” He said it so quietly, he was sure Psiionic didn’t hear him.

“NO! NO! NO!” It was a chant now. Sollux thought maybe Psii thought Sollux was going to take him back to the Imperial Airship.

He had to say something. Anything. He heard crying and yelling in the background. That must have been Mituna. 

The blows continued to his stomach and chest. Sollux threw his arms up to block his face. After a while, the pain went dull. He could barely feel it. Though he could feel his own tears streaming from his eyes as he coiled into the fetal position. Like that would lessen the pain.

“Dad. . .” he choked out from behind his forearms. 

And the hits suddenly stopped. A beat later, he was pulled into a trembling torso.

“Sol. . . Sollux. . .”

Relief washed over Sollux when he recognized him. Finally. He shifted to hug Psiionic as honey-colored tears rained down onto his neck.

Everything would be okay tomorrow.

\---

And it was. For Psiioniic. Or at least, Sollux assumed it was. All three Captors had slept in Psii’s block that night, Psiioniic cuddling them like he himself had birthed them. They watched movies and ate grubsauce straight from the jar. 

Psii had cried for a good hour after the incident, all throughout the aftercare. He’d broken two of Sollux’s ribs and dislocated his jaw. But he’d set everything correctly with his psionics. But the bruising would be prominent for a few days. Of course, this had to happen on a Monday instead of a Thursday or Friday, so Sollux would have to figure out how to hide them all week. 

Though for now, Psii called Sollux in sick from the next day at school.

Then they had all fallen asleep together in Psii’s bed.

In the morning, he awoke in his own bed in his own respiteblock feeling like he’d gotten hit by an Earth bus. Mituna seemed to be there in an instant. Sollux could tell by the sag of his eyes and the limpness of his shoulders that today was one of Tuna’s worse days.

Therefore, he shooed Mituna away, earning a thankful look and a hair rustle. 

Thank god for the hyperspeed healing that Trolls possessed. He should be healed by tomorrow. 

Psii had not left his room once since Sollux woke up.

Sollux reached out and grabbed his phone to shoot Eridan a text.

twinArmageddons[TA] began pestering caligulasAquarium[CA]

TA: hey a22hole not goiing two be at 2chool twoday  
CA: wwhat wwhy  
TA: 2iick. iit2 pretty gro22  
CA: are you glubbin serious. wwe need to get our performance together. get your yelloww ass ovver here  
TA: unle22 you want two 2ee what ii had for diinner la2t niight then iim 2tayiing riight the fuck here  
CA: wwhat the fuck sol. good timing. wwhatevver. be better by tomorrow  
TA: wow good two 2ee your riidiiculou2 amount of love and care  
TA: iill be fiine by twomorrow jacka22  
CA: of course sol my only concern is your health.

caligulasAquarium[CA] ceased pestering twinArmageddons[TA]

Sollux rolled his eyes. Eridan was so obnoxious. He sat up and winced in pain. It was an incredible aching in his torso. The ribs. He tossed his feet over the side of his bed and forced himself onto his feet. He stumbled over to the mirror he had over his dresser and scowled. That was a nasty purple-yellow bruise he had going on. He rubbed his jaw and wondered if he could cover it up with make-up. He had to work later- oh wait. He glanced at his phone. It was already 2:30.

Jesus Christ.

He pushed through the aching and walked down the hallway to the ablutionblock to clean up.

Fifteen minutes later, he had fixed his hair, and slathered a pound of make-up on his skin. The only reason the had make-up in the hive was because of times like this. He didn’t normally wear make-up spare for the occasional eye liner.

He inspected himself and nodded. Good.

“Where are you going?”

Sollux looked up to see Tuna standing in the doorway to the ablutionblock.

“Work.”

“You should stay here.”

“I need to work, Tuna.”

Tuna frowned at him and made his distaste with that clear. Tuna hated him working when he was hurt or going through one of his bad days. But too fucking bad because sitting on one’s ass and whining about shit will not get the bills paid or keep the food in the fridge.

Sollux threw back his pills as Tuna glared at him. Then he was flopped over Sol in a weird limp hug. Sol awkwardly patted Mituna’s arm and drank a full glass of water. He wasn’t really feeling hungry, so he hadn’t eaten yet.

He felt the arms slide from around him and Tuna was gone.

Sollux sighed and turned to leave. He worked at Hot Topic in the mall a ways away. He still didn’t trust himself to drive, so he walked to work. He had to clock in at four. He would make it with plenty of time to spare.

Sollux’s head wasn’t pounding as badly as it normally did, thank god. The fresh air was certainly helping, he was convinced.

Sol made it to the mall within twenty minutes of his shift. Good. He yawned (ow) and walked inside the food court entrance. There were mostly humans around, but he could spot the familiar colors of horns bobbing through crowds. Sol walked from the food court and entered his workplace.

A lot of humans, apparently, viewed Hot Topic as a sort of go-to for like, murderers, satan worshippers, and “emo” kids. Which was hilarious to him seeing as 80% of the store was nerd merch and band shirts.

Sol currently wore Hot Topic merchandise himself. A pair of black skinny jeans and a black and yellow striped hoodie over it. Yes, he looked like a bumble bee. No he did not care. He pushed up his glasses and tugged at his yellow beanie. 

He got behind the counter after checking in and boredly reading the pins in the bucket by the register. He chuckled at one before he heard the door ding open.

Oh hell no.

Eridan Ampora just walked into Hot Topic.


	4. Eridan: Relax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan discovers Sollux at one of his favorite shops while buying a few... Personal items.

As Eridan left choir, he sneered his nose and quickly shifted past anyone who tried to get in his way. Who did Sollux think he was? Getting sick and leaving him alone to just sit there and be relatively embarrassed even though literally no one paid attention to him. Eridan adjusted his hair, and stalked down the hallway quickly.

Honestly, the only thing he felt like doing was shopping. But to shop was to avoid his ‘brother’, Cronus.

Cronus Ampora wasn’t really his brother; no troll had true siblings. They just shared the same sign, what the humans called ‘Aquarius.’ Avoiding Cronus meant keeping any… Private actions away from their ‘father’ figure, Orphaner Dualscar. Or just Dualscar, to them. They had become a close knit family unit, and Cronus had sincerely adopted the ways of the Earth teenagers. 

Their story was kind of like everyone else’s. Except their Ancestor was actually important. 

Orphaner Dualscar had been the kismesis to Mindfang, Vriska Serket’s ‘mother’, however after Dualscar went out in a turbulent rage towards Mindfang’s slave matesprit, he was removed from his position as the Orphaner by the Grand Highblood. 

When it was time to finally do away with Dualscar, Her Imperial Condescension had spared his life. 

He then fell into a depression, which he was forced to hide due to the strict ruling of mental illnesses on Alternia, and resorted to the low key version of Alternian alcoholism, using the mental stimulation that was sort of like sopor but not as necessarily rotting. 

Eridan was four sweeps when he peered up from the shallow bottom of his ocean home base, and saw the stars get brighter and brighter through the currents. The next he knew, his then flush crush and also then, her highness Feferi Piexes, was dragging him from his spot rooted in the sand, watching the orbs with wide eyes. 

Feferi dragged him up onto the beach, where their gills struggled to adapt to the sudden oxygen change. But the running was the worst, ripping their lungs apart basically, as they had just opened and were now being forced to be used.

They were soon joined by a few more highbloods, an indigo few that regarded the fuschia princess with their life. Of course, Feferi didn’t release Eridan’s hand, and that made his four-sweep-old heart flutter. Those feelings were of course, long forgotten. But he remembered how his fins wouldn’t stop fluttering.

Feferi dragged him to the massive, disgustingly vibrant airship that was no doubt Her Imperial Condescension’s, and Eridan saw the massive amounts of low and midbloods making their way through the main opening in the ship. However the highbloods were led in through a different way, somewhere less crowded, escorted by a series of Threshecutioners and Imperial Guards. 

Once everyone had gathered, Eridan looked up to see the gleaming expression of the Condesce, and remembered how her jewelry was shining in the meteor’s bright light. 

“Classify.” she ordered, and the lowbloods and midbloods pooled together. Soon only a few were trickling into their respective castes, and it didn’t take long for the highbloods to find their way. There wasn’t as much as them as one would’ve truly thought. 

Eridan left Feferi, or rather, she left him. She moved to a spot by the Condescension, offering Eridan a smile and a wave as a rather intimidating fuschia blood moved to her side. She sent a shark-toothed smiled to Eridan, and Eridan turned immediately.

He went to find his blood caste, and found only a few. Once they had finished, the Condesce’s dark eyes scanned over the groups, and she spoke again. 

“Group by symbol, guppies.” she said with a sly smirk, and nobody said a thing while they found their respective signs. 

Once that was finished, there was three with the same sign as Eridan himself.

The first he distinctly realized was Orphaner Dualscar, however he looked more bored than… Well, menacing as his stories and encounters implied. His normally primed outfit and hair was dull, and a little messy. Eridan knew he had been removed of his position, but had it really affected him so badly?

The second he noticed was Cronus, who was less than impressive. His hair was slicked back and he toyed a toothpick between his sharp teeth. He glared around like the entire ship owed him something. He was young, Eridan didn’t know how many sweeps he was exactly, but he looked like he was just now beginning his changes into what humans called ‘preteen.’

He barely had time to think about him before the Grand Highblood stood from his place, two purple bloods beside him who were much smaller. One was dressed in skeletal attire, chewing his bottom lip with an eager expression and the second was grinning lazily, looking rather excited that everyone was here together. 

The Grand Highblood’s deep voice rang out, and informed them that the lights in the sky were, in fact, meteors. They were coming for Alternia, and soon there would be nothing left of their planet.

Eridan looked around in fear as everyone began panicking, but the Grand Highblood released a loud “Silence!”, and everyone calmed.

“We will be evacuating to a motherfuckin’ planet on the other side of the fuckin’ galaxy, called Earth where them pansy ass humans reside to live amongst them.” he stated, and everyone calmed naturally to learn they would be safe, but feared whispers still went through the crowd.

Eridan felt the airship shudder, then lift off into the air. People naturally went to look through the large windows, only to see the meteors crash into the planet’s surface and destroy Alternia. 

Naturally, there was disappointment and sorrow. But Eridan didn’t feel a thing. He had always lived in the oceans, and had really despised how the natural air made his gills ache. 

They proceeded to spend about a sweep on the airship, ‘bonding’ with their new ‘families’ and learning about each other. Eridan mostly spent that time with Cronus, who he discovered was one and a half sweeps older than him, loved humans, and was the most tortured soul. Of course that was sarcasm, as Cronus played the pity party with his troll dysphoria too much. They didn’t really talk with Dualscar. He usually spent his time alone in different places on the ship, most likely drowning in fermented grubsauce. 

However Eridan discovered Cronus actually had friends, despite his horrible, horrible personality. 

Turns out he knew a yellow blood by the name of Mituna, however he spent his sweet time teasing the obviously mentally challenged boy. He also spent his time ‘admirin’ the view’, as in scoping out the women that were on the ship and relatively his age. He made friends with a jade blood named Porrim, and Eridan discovered the youngest Maryam was quite interested in fashion, like himself.

They became friends, however nothing ever happened between the two of them. She eventually faded into a very strained friendship with the Heiress, and Eridan could see the black radiating from it. However he didn’t have time to think about that.

Cronus had another friend, named Kankri. Eridan rather despised him because of his constant chatter, and because of his freakish blood color that somehow hadn’t gotten him culled. Probably because of his Ancestor’s ‘important’ place in Alternian history. 

It was really a miracle any of them were alive.

Eridan met with his blood relative, Karkat, and while Karkat was very angry and mostly cursed towards him, they became close friends. However Eridan never got him as a moirail. 

_______________________________

The airship made its way quickly across the space it had to cover, and they soon landed on a massive port on Earth, somewhere in Washington D.C.

The trolls were granted access to live anywhere they liked, and most of them chose upstate New York, and areas close to that. However Eridan knew of some ‘families’ that made their way across the country and as far away as possible from the copious amounts of humans in this place.

Eridan thought the humans were soft, gentle, and oddly agitating. However Cronus was amazed at their beauty and their shops and homes and what not. He fell in love with human culture, which only added to his dysphoria. Dualscar still seemed overall dull.

As young trolls, both Eridan and Cronus had to go to the human versions of schoolhives, called ‘school’ when he was about five.

Due to their intelligence basis, on account of being highbloods and being smarter than the average human child, they were sent into grades higher than their human age. So Eridan started human middle school, and became hardened. 

Eridan didn’t allow bullying. He saw a lot of it, but he pulled the old ‘my family unit father could gut you’ and that usually scared whoever was brave enough to tease his gills, or glasses, or fins, or love of human wizards and Harry Potter.

Cronus and Eridan became extremely close, however Cronus found his own cliques among the humans he so adored. He became more and more like them, and once an accident occurred.

Eridan had come home from school once, to discover Cronus trying to saw off his horns. It was a horrifying struggle, but it ended with Cronus crying into his young frame, and Eridan being low key traumatized. However they had made it through together, without the help of their ‘father’, and ended the night getting Cronus into the Harry Potter series. 

So here they were now, rather correct brother figures towards each other. Meaning Cronus had his secrets, and Eridan definitely had his secrets, and while Dualscar had found slight purpose in himself now and wasn’t as dead inside, he had become a stern father figure in retaliation to Cronus’s rebellious teenager persona. 

So Eridan quickly snuck out to the parking lot, stealing away in his car and rushing off before Cronus could hunt him down and ask him about afternoon plans. 

Eridan drove to the local mall, sighing heavily. He just needed to relax, and get some new, cute clothes to make himself feel better. He parked a little inconspicuously and got out, walking with purpose into the mall and heading towards an excellent shop.

Hot Topic was a rather… Embarrassing store, however they had the cutest dresses and skirts, and Eridan tended to enjoy them. Quite a bit, actually. Eridan enjoyed dressing in both men and women’s attire, and discovered the term to call himself, which was androgynous. He found he felt comfortable dressing in women’s clothing, men’s, or a mix of the two. He felt comfortable not being completely masculine. He wasn’t comfortable having a definite gender. 

Eridan entered the shop, glancing around momentarily, before making his way to the section of skirts and dresses and cute sweaters and what not. He paused in front of a rack, and picking up a red plaid pleated skirt, with soft black lace around the trim. He smiled a little, and held it up to his own waist. It wasn’t really his color, but it was kinda cute. Sexy. 

Eridan turned to the next rack, holding the skirt, and admired a cute dress, covered in music notes. Lace crisscrossed at the front, and decorated the trim. He gasped softly, and held it up to himself. It was adorable. He checked the price, finding it was a little pricey. However beauty had no limit, did it?

He walked around the store a bit more, picking up a pair of stockings with purple stripes, and some other cute accessories. 

When Eridan turned to check out, he saw quite the familiar face, and almost ran out. 

Eridan saw Sollux, dresses in the cute little name tag and customary attire and working the register and extremely not sickly looking. Eridan frowned, rage building in his chest, but then he remembered he needed to purchase the items in his arms, and Sollux was the only cashier. 

Eridan frowned, looking down at what he had collected. He had found all this wonderful stuff… He could handle this two ways. Take it like a highblood and check out and be all, ‘fuck yeah I wear dresses.’

Or he could leave everything on one rack, and leave quietly.

But Eridan didn’t want to do that. Sollux didn’t deserve him being afraid. Sollux could fuck off for all he cared, because he was buyin’ these cute glubbin’ socks, dammit. 

Eridan walked up to the cashier counter, and placed his items on the counter. He then crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes from behind his glasses at Sollux. 

“Fancy seein’ your yellow ass here.” he bit out.

Sollux looked up from the button bucket and started. “E-Eridan!” He said in apparent shock. Eridan almost smirked at his shocked response, but kept his face angered.

“What the fuck are you doin’ here?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow and blushing slightly. Sollux had yet to notice his items, and he was nervous.

“Uh. I work here.” He said. He looked down, and to Eridan’s surprise, hardly batted an eyelash at the merchandise. “These for you?” He asked, ringing them up.

Eridan blinked in surprise, and relaxed slightly. “Uh, yeah. Aren’t you surprised?” he asked and frowned. Sollux had to have been mocking him, right? He had to have been… 

Sollux looked up. “Not really. This dress would look good on you.” He said. “You would be surprised what my brother likes to wear around the hive.” Sollux said, and Eridan thought he almost saw amusement on his bored expression.

Eridan blushed violet, and looked away. “Thanks, I guess. What does he wear, exactly?” he asked, crossing his arms comfortably and leaning his weight onto one hip. He was curious. Was Sollux’s ‘brother’ like him?

Sollux shrugged. “Well, he’s kinda. . . Well, he’ll run around in his matesprits panties and bra.” He sighed. His cheeks colored. “And her booty shorts. So.” He cleared his throat.

Eridan couldn’t help but snort at the obvious embarrassment on Sollux’s cheeks, and hid his mouth. “Sorry, that’s…” he paused, and smiled. Huh.

Maybe it was just him, but Sollux looked awfully cute with a blush like that.


End file.
